


I Got Nothing but Dreams Inside

by orphan_account



Series: Hijacking the Soft Wars AU [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Brothers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Protective Older Brothers, Soft Wars AU, brothers being brothers, but very light, chatfic, so soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25921171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Five times the Shebse scared the crap out of each other and one time everything was fineSet in the Soft Wars AU
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CC-3636 | Wolffe, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-5052 | Bly & CC-2224 | Cody, CC-5052 | Bly & CC-2224 | Cody & CC-6454 | Ponds & CT-7567 | Rex & CC-3636 | Wolffe, CC-5052 | Bly/Aayla Secura
Series: Hijacking the Soft Wars AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725256
Comments: 22
Kudos: 247
Collections: Open Source Soft Wars





	I Got Nothing but Dreams Inside

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Presence Requested](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24643879) by [Project0506](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Project0506/pseuds/Project0506). 
  * Inspired by [The More They Change](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404155) by [Project0506](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Project0506/pseuds/Project0506). 



> Fall Out Boy has big Shebse energy. 
> 
> _I'm just young enough to still believe  
>  but young enough not to know what to believe in  
> if I can live through this  
> I can do anything. _
> 
> Champion by Fall Out Boy
> 
> Five times the Shebse scared the crap out of each other and one time everything was fine

_1\. Rex is exposed to the Blue Shadow Virus_

“Cody here General.” Cody answered the holocall from Naboo and a miniature, flickering blue version of the Jedi popped up on the transmitter at the back of the bridge.

**_“Cody. Anakin and I are headed to a planet called Lego to get the antidote for the Blue Shadow Virus. Apparently its made from a plant which can only be found there."_ **

“The antidote?” Cody frowned, tucking his hands behind his back. “I thought the virus was contained.”

**_“It is, for now. But one of the droids was able to set offa bomb to release it in the bunker. Its been flooded.”_ **

Cody’s back went stiff and he swallowed. “Casualties, sir?”

**_"Unknown at this time."_ **The tiny blue Kenobi dropped his hands and clasped them behind his back, mimicking his Commander's posture. **_“We do know Senator Amidala, Padawan Tano and Representative Binks are currently trapped down there along with a handful of troopers. Including Captain Rex.”_**

Cody was a Marshall Commandeer in the Grand Army of the Republic. He did not flinch.

“Understood, sir.”

**_“Cody,”_ **Obi Wan hesitated, listening to some garbled voice outside of range. He sighed, the winkles around his eyes tightening in a way only dealing with Anakin could do. **_“I have to go but…we’ll get them out. I promise.”_**

Cody nodded stiffly, conscious of the gaze of every vod on the bridge boring into him. “Yes sir. Take care of yourself, general. And Skywalker too.”

Obi Wan smiled, a soft, private smile. **_“I will. See you soon, dear one.”_**

Cody paced the bridge for two hours before Boil made a pointed suggestion that he go work on some paperwork because he was threatening the structural integrity of the bridge plating. That was obviously an exaggeration but he was feeling about ready to crawl out of his skin waiting for updates from the planet and appreciated the excuse to leave anyway. He decided to overlook Boil’s insubordinate salute as he left and take his wins where he could get them.

It wasn’t the fact that his general had allowed himself to be dragged off on a half-baked plan that _Skywalker_ had come up with, to go digging for a plant on a moon in Separatist space that had Cody tied up in knots.

Cody _wished_ that was unusual.

And the Marshal Commander had come to terms with the risks to his brothers very early on in the war, sometime between the first battle of Geonosis and when he realized what the GAR’s original intention had been for Torrent Company. He’d made peace with it then, determined to live in the here and now and be thankful for every time his brothers came back to him, dirty, disheveled and exhausted, but whole.

Death on the battlefeild was an assimilated risk, one Cody had dealt with and worked through many times. But this? A previously thought to be extinct, airborne version of a virus that had ravaged the entire galaxy a thousand years ago? Cody didn't know what to make of that. 

And its as _Rex_ trapped down there with it.

So, really, Cody thought his heightened levels of stress were understandable. He’d been giving the floor of his office the same treatment as the bridge for nearly an hour before he lunged for his comm, worried if he didn’t talk to someone he’d vibrate out of his shell.

**_“Bly here.”_ **

“Bly." He exhaled. Just hearing his vod’s voice was enough to calm some of his nerves a bit. "You busy?”

Cody heard a shuffling sound and what might have been another voice, but it was too quiet to know for sure.

**_“Not in the middle of a battle or anything. Whats going on?”_ **

Cody dropped into a chair at his desk, rolling his head from side to side to try and stave off the tension headache creeping up behind his eyes.

“Nothing,” he lied, hoping being over audio only would keep Bly from calling him on it. “I was thinking about getting some logistics in place for the Attahox campaign.” He paused, trying to come up with a reasonable reason why he would have commed Bly about that. “Do you have a copy of the latest Expansionist region report? I…misplaced mine.”

All shuffling and background noise on Bly’s side of the comm went silent. Cody winced.

**_“Hold on.”_ **

He frowned as the communication suddenly winked out, only for his comm to start chirping again right away, this time signaling a holocall. Cody schooled his features and answered.

A miniature version of Bly stared at him, seated in just his blacks on what appeared to be a bunk, though it was a bit larger than the standard officer’s size and dressed in more blankets and pillows than Cody had known Bly to favor.

**_“Nice try, Cody.”_ **Bly tilted his head at him. **_“But you have the most complex filing system the GAR’s ever seen. You didn’t lose anything. Which means you were looking for an excuse to talk to me. So talk.”_**

Cody blew out a long breath and his head bowed forward. Bly watched the layers of commander and Alor and officer peel off of him like he was shedding his armor at the end of a campaign, until all that was left was Kote.

“It’s probably nothing.”

**_“If it was you wouldn't have called.”_ **

Cody leaned his elbows on the desk and rested his forehead in his hand. “Kenobi’s gone galavanting off into Seperatist space without backup.”

**_“Well that’s worrying but not enough for the look on your face right now.”_ **Bly shifted, wincing and moving an object from under his thigh that he moved out of range before Cody could identify it. If he was in a better mood he might have pressed him on it, but for the moment Bly’s privacy was preserved by the nagging worry in Cody’s gut.

**_“So is it General Kenobi you're worried about or someone else?”_** He asked, getting right to the heart of the matter the way only Bly could.

“It's Rex.”

**_“Okay,”_ **Bly nodded, and Cody could already see the calculations happening in his head. All he would need to say is a word and the 327th would be there. Cody loved his brothers _so_ much. ** _“Tell me everything.”_**

Cody did.

By the time Bly hung up Cody could breathe again. They had a plan, a backup plan and a It’s Hit the Fan Give it to the Force plan.

And an hour after that Rex commed from the medical transport, wearing a wan smile and terrifying dark veins across his face, telling Cody he’d nominated him to teach Representative Binks the basics of Blaster Use.

Cody didn’t even argue. Just nodded indulgently and thanked the part of the Force Fox had claimed for Clones that his brother had been returned to him once more.

* * *

_2\. Cody Breaks his Leg kicking a Droid_

“Idiot.”

Cody dropped his head back to stare at the ceiling and sent a prayer to whatever gods might be listening that now would be his time to march on.

“Seriously, the biggest kriffing di’kut I’ve ever seen.”

Cody closed his eyes.

“I can’t believe they let you lead an army.”

“I can demote you, you know.” Cody groused.

There was a derisive snort. “No you can’t.”

Cody cracked open one eye to look at Wolffe. Cody's very annoying and currently least favorite brother had both his booted feet kicked up onto Cody’s bed, leaning far back in his uncomfortable plastoid chair. He looked as if he was sitting beside a pool on Canto Bight and not crammed into the tiny space between beds in the _Negotiator’s_ medical bay.

“Can’t I?” He challenged.

Wolffe looked back at him steadily. “Nope. Because you’d need your pad for that. And it’s way over there.” Wolffe jerked his head toward one of the Medic’s desks on the other side of the room. “And you can’t walk.”

Cody scowled but didn’t respond because his dear brother wasn’t, _technically_ wrong. He could hobble. He could limp. He could even crawl if the need arose.

But Cody could absolutely, most definitely and assuredly, not walk. 

_Stupid leg,_ Cody mused darkly and a bit petulantly. He glared down at his right leg, enveloped groin to ankle in a pure white cast which, he saw now, was already sporting several hand drawn pictures that were absolutely inappropriate for a Commander and even most polite company. At least his brothers had been kind enough to draw in their company colors, so Cody would have no problem doling out proportionate revenge responsesfor the various offenders.

“Don’t glare at your leg. It’s not your leg’s fault you’re an idiot.”

Cody rolled his eyes back up to the ceiling and dramatically dropped his head, defeated. He wondered idly how much he’d have to fuss to get Coric to give him the good painkillers and put him to sleep.

“He dropped out of the krifffing ceiling, vod. Too close for effective blaster fire. I reacted. What do you want from me?”

There was a short, irritated exhalation from the other side of the bed where the third member of the party had up till then been standing stoic and silent.

“I’m calling Ponds.”

Cody groaned and threw his arms over his face.

**_“Hey Rex’ika.”_ **

“Ponds. You need to talk to your brother.”

A pause. **_"Which one?"_**

"The one who likes to pretend he's not as big of a di'kut as everyone else."

**_“What did Cody do this time?”_ **

Cody raised his hand to make a rude gesture. Wolffe snickered.

“He decided it would be a good idea to kick Grievous in his big metal face. He broke his leg in three places. We couldn't reach him on comms for an hour!”

The garbled noise that came over the comm could have been laughter or just the normal intermitant static of a long range communication.

**_“Really? That sounds more like the kind of dumb stunt Wolffe would pull.”_ **

_“Hey!”_

Cody wrestled his pillow out from under his head and pressed it over his face, folding his arms on top and pressing down.

Apparently the gods were busy. Cody had to do everything for himself in this house.

* * *

_3\. Wolffe Loses an Eye_

The Shebse didn’t always abuse the Priority Chat, only when they wanted to annoy Cody. For daily conversation, and it was near daily unless one or more of them were on campaign, they had a separate channel for the five of them. It was mostly used for sharing embarrassing pictures or stories of the others, occasionally idle chit chat and generally keeping tabs on one another.

Holocomm calls were reserved for serious conversation.

A Holocall meant trouble.

“Cody.” Rex greeted, with a dip of his chin. It wasn’t quite as uncommon to hear from Cody over holocall as it was for the others. They served together often enough that they discussed the business of running an army almost as often as anything else.

**_“Rex.”_ **Cody sounded something more than tired, something that made Rex set aside the pad he’d been working on and give his full attention to the small holo of his brother. Cody was seated, at his desk probably, forehead resting on the palm of his right hand the way he only did when he was really stressed.

“What’s wrong?”

**_“It’s Wolffe.”_ **

Rex allowed himself to hesitate for half a second and swallow, forcibly pulling his heart rate back under control. The last time Cody called him about Wolffe it had been to tell him that he was one of three Clone survivors after a ship that housed an entire legion, nearly 10,000 men all told, had been just…spaced.

Rex exhaled as he spoke. “What about him.”

_**“He’s not dead.”**_ Cody said dully, and it didn’t give Rex the relief it should have because Cody was _acting_ like he was dead. **_“He was injured. Severely. He…she took his eye.”_**

Rex blinked. “She?”

**_“Ventress.”_ **Cody looked up and met Rex’s eyes. If he’d been anyone else he would have missed the minute tightening in Rex’s features, the way he barely withheld a flinch at mention of the woman’s name. Probably no one else in the galaxy knew Rex still had nightmares about that witch being inside his head. Making him do and say things that were not his choice. But Cody knew.

And Cody was karking tired of that woman hurting his brothers.

“Can we see him?”

Cody inhaled like it was something he had to remember to do.

**_“Sinker will be on the Priority Chat to give us updates soon.”_ **

Rex nodded, his gaze falling to his hands, folded together tightly on his desk.

**_"Rex'ika."_ **

He looked up instantly.

"He'll be alright." It wasn't the Vod'alor's voice, the one that commanded such deference even the galaxy itself would not dare defy him.

This was the voice Rex recognized from Kamino, back when he could fling out an arm in any direction at any time and snag the sleeve or shirt or hand one of his older brothers and know everything was alright.

Rex clung to that voice like it was a physical thing, wrapped it around himself and breathed.

"Okay."

Cody nodded. **_"I'll comm Anakin. I don’t want you to be alone during this whole thing."_**

Rex smiled, shaky and small, but enough to smooth some of the edges in Cody's face.

"I haven’t needed a minder in a long time, vod."

His words had the desired effect and the stiff set of Cody's shoulders loosened. He smiled back.

**_"Humor me."_ **

Rex did. Because it was Cody. And as much as it annoyed him, Cody was right. Like always. Rex wasnt sure how he would have gotten through the following hours of tense silence broken by the chime of his comm without Anakin by his side.

And it was not a surprise when, several days later, they were all able to coordinate a rendezvous with the medical center on Kamino and there was a Jedi counterpart for every Shebse in the room.

* * *

_ 4\. Ponds is nearly executed by Aurra Sing _

Shebse Squad Chat Activated

Ponds: reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated

Rex: that’s not kriffing funny

Ponds: language Rex’ika. Honestly.

Bly: Are you alright Ponds?

Wolffe: Koon said they lost the connection before they saw what happened to you.

Rex: Anakin wouldn’t even look at me when he told me.

Ponds: I’m fine. I promise.

Ponds: Ni ceta vode.

Cody: You’re alive. That’s the important thing.

Bly: Yeah. You ever scare us like that again and we’ll * ~~ **redacted**~~ * your * ~~ **redacted** **redacted**~~ *. Got it?

Ponds: Loud and clear.

Rex: Seriously?

Bly: Protecting your little eyes, Rex’ika.

Cody: He’s heard worse from Ponds.

Ponds: _alksjdf;ahflakhfgal'kjsd_

Ponds: Slandered! By my own brother!

Ponds: After I nearly _died_

Wolffe: I thought you said you were fine

Ponds: I am. But I was singed by that karking Torrent Bouncy Bomb I used to facilitate my escape.

Ponds: wait

Cody: case and point.

Bly: unbelievable.

Wolffe: idiot.

Rex: MY _EYESSSSSSS!!!_

* * *

_5\. Bly goes AWOL to rescue Aayla_

“I can go right now, Cody! I’ll take a small strike team, in and out before anyone knows we’re there.” Bly cut into the report, more desperate and persistent than he had been the last three times he’d suggested it.

“Commander Bly.” Cody snapped. Obi Wan didn’t bat an eye, Boil and Waxer pretended to be engrossed in the flickering holomap in front of them. “I understand your desire to rescue General Secura. You know I do.” He paused a heavy silence that made the others shift, feeling intrusive. “But we’ll do this the right way.”

“Please Cody. _I can do this._ ” Bly wasn’t letting up. Cody huffed and reached out, grabbing Bly by the chest plate to drag him out of the Command tent.

As soon as they set foot in the cool night air Bly wrenched himself out of Cody’s grip and ripped off his helmet.

“Cody-”

“Bly, stop this.” Cody hissed.

Bly stepped up so his nose was nearly pressed to Cody’s bucket. “Tell me you wouldn’t do it if it was Obi Wan. Tell me you wouldn’t do _anything_ to rescue him.”

Cody breathed out for two long beats and reached up and slowly removed his bucket too. The shadows cast by the two moons were long, leaving the planes of their faces in sharp contrast. Bly’s gold tattoos glittered in the low light.

“I wouldn’t.” Cody said quietly, continuing before Bly could finish the swear already on his lips. “Not If it meant putting the lives of a dozen men at undue risk. And not if it risked _your_ life Bly.”

Bly took a step back, shoulders sagging, he looked at the ground.

“Cody. She...” His voice broke and Cody reached out, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck.

"I know. Trust me Bly. You’ve got a better head for strategy than I do. _Think_ about it. The plan we’ve come up with is solid, it has the lowest risk of casualties. _Including_ Aayla.” He squeezed and watched a tear catch the light as it fell from the tip of Bly’s nose to disappear in the dirt. “We leave at first light.”

A few hours later Cody was awakened just before dawn by the sound of one of the night watchmen sending up the alert and sudden, frenzied activity outside his tent.

He was still attaching his upper shell components when he arrived at the edge of camp to see two figures hobbling toward them, backlight by the early dawn light on then horizon. Arms slung across eachother's shoulders, hunched inward and moving with an odd, limping gait, it wasn’t clear who was supporting whom. Lekku hung limply off the head of one figure and scorched armor covered the other.

Cody heard a soft swear beside him and Coric and the 327th CMO surged forward with a couple other men and peeled the two apart.

Immediately Bly slumped toward the ground and Coric swore again, louder and with purpose. A young medic jumped forward and propped up Bly’s other side. Cody looked on as the group slowly walked their charges into camp.

Aayla was smiling comfortingly at her men, answering their softly spoken questions as they hovered around her. Seemingly without realizing it they created a walking perimeter encircling their general, clearing the way to the med tent.

After her came Bly, blood smeared across his armor and face, but it was too dark to tell whether the color made it his own or not. He didn’t have his bucket and one eye was swollen shut. Picking up his feet to walk seemed to be taking all the energy he had left. Coric was still swearing about his lot in life when they passed Cody, his eyes locked on Bly's slumped form.

As if he sensed his gaze, Bly dragged his head up to look over, giving his brother a small wave, as if he was a shiny being helped back to the barracks after overdoing it at 79s and not a Commander who'd gone off on a suicidal rescue mission.

If Cody wasn’t so legitimately concerned it would aggravate a severe concussion, he might have put him down right there.

As it was he waited until Coric had stopped fussing over the Commander and Cody had been assured he would make a full recovery from his injuries before going to see Bly.

He stood at Ease at the foot of Bly’s bed and stared at him for a long time before Bly gave up the pretense of pretending to be asleep and opened his good eye.

“Ori’vod.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Don’t. You were completely out of line, Commander.”

Bly didn’t quite shrug, but he tilted his head slight and closed his eye again.

“Bly.”

He was back to pretending to be asleep so Cody moved around to the side of the bed.

_“Bly.”_

The incredibly fake snore that came from Bly's mouth had to be something he’d learned from one of the heinous daytime holodramas he pretended not to like.

Cody very carefully raised his hand and let it thump down over Bly’s collar bone and shoulder, just above the sling.

Bly shot up with a hiss and a swear to shove him away.

“Kriff, vod!” He glared up at his brother, rubbing at his shoulder with his good hand.

“Don’t ignore me then.”

Bly huffed and laid back. Cody retracted his arm to tuck it back behind him.

"Look, Cody...I know you're upset that I disobeyed orders-"

"Damn straight."

"-and I apologize for that. But I don’t regret it." Bly looked up at him, a tightly reigned rage burning deep in his gaze. "She's a twi'lek. She was captured by an enemy with known ties to slavery. Jedi or not I couldn’t, _I couldn't,_ risk it Cody. I'm not sorry for that."

Bly's gaze went across the tent to where Aayla was resting and Obi Wan appeared to be meditating beside her bed.

"I know." Cody responded after a moment. "Im not angry about that. I'm not even that angry you went against orders...I just...you could have been killed Bly." Without meaning to his voice dropped to a whisper and he reached for Bly's hand where it rested on his stomach.

"We're so close. Its almost Time, Bly."

His brother squeezed his fingers. "I know. Thats why I had to go." He smiled just slightly and his eyes went back to his general. "It wouldn't have been Home without her."

* * *

_+1. And one time everything was fine_

Wolffe...wasn't entirely sure. About anything. Starting with what _this_ was and ending with what his brother was _thinking_.

He stood with his arms crossed, glaring (staring, but it looked like glaring to everyone else) out over the...road? Track? On one side of him Rex seemed to be torn between laughing and swearing. Torrent clearly came by it’s chaotic nature honestly.

Wolffe was pretty sure that was Ponds' fault.

On his other side Bly had sprawled on the grass, still not fully recovered from what the 327th called ‘team bonding’ but Fox had dubbed ‘reckless endangerment of life and destruction of Republic property’.

Wolffe thought Fox complained a lot.

Beyond Bly, Cody stood staring in the opposite direction of Wolffe, back toward the public transport line that had brought them all here.

“Dammit Ponds!”

Wolffe and Rex turned in the direction Cody was shouting and Bly made a half hearted attempt at rolling his head enough to catch a glimpse.

Making his way over from the nearest tram station, Ponds had his hands buried in the pockets of ill-fitting civvies and a shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

“Su’cuy vode.” He chirped.

Wolffe watched from the corner of his eye as the vein in Cody’s forehead pulsed. Fleet week had apparently not been as relaxing for the Vod’alor as it had been for the rest of the men.

“Ponds. What part of Emergency protocol has fully and completely escaped your understanding?” Cody was still clinging to the righteous indignation that had fired up as soon as he'd arrived as Ponds approached. Wolffe smirked quietly to himself. Sometimes he thought his brother _enjoyed_ the rest of the men’s blatant disregard for Comm protocol. It gave him something to yell about.

“Priority One Emergency Summons are for _Priority One_ _Emergencies_ , Ponds. Not…” He flung his arm out toward the odd little track arena behind them, “whatever _this_ is.”

Yes, about that. What _was_ this place?

“It _is_ an emergency, Cody. General Windu was given five tickets to Speedy Speeders a few months ago at some kind of Jedi meet’n’greet and then forgot about them. They expire _tomorrow_ Cody. Do you know what a travesty it would have been for that to happen?” Ponds words did not merit the gravity he infused into his tone.

Wolffe rolled his eyes. His brothers were so _dramatic_.

_“Ponds.”_

Ponds groaned. “Come _on_ Cody. None of you were even leaving for another rotation at least anyway!”

Immediately Rex cleared his throat and Bly, who was still lying one the ground now with his eyes closed, threw a hand lazily into the air.

“Actually we were scheduled to leave for the Pantoran system today at 0900.” Rex said, looking pretty relaxed for someone who was supposed to be off planet four hours ago.

“Kashyyyk.” Bly grunted. Dropping his hand into the grass with a soft thud.

Well, that explained why they were both in full kit.

“Rex you know as well as I do when your General heard the Senator from Naboo needed a ride home he delayed your departure time so it’s not as if I’m keeping you from anything.” Ponds waited for Rex to dip his chin in agreement before turning to knock his boot against Bly’s shoulder, who cursed his faulty sequencing under his breath in response. “And the shipment of Brylark trees will keep for one more cycle, Bly. If you were really concerned about it you wouldn’t have gotten black out drunk last night.”

The grunt of Bly’s response was not quite words.

Ponds grinned and stuck his hands back in his pockets, looking entirely too self satisfied for Wolffe’s liking. He reached out and laid a heavy hand on Ponds’ unarmored shoulder, yanking him around to face him.

“Why. Are we here.”

Ponds shrugged out of his hold, but the grin stayed in place.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been to Speedy Speeders.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Not all of us get to spend downtime on a core planet once a cycle, Pon’ika.” Rex snorted.

“It’s not the joy you think it is,” Ponds shot back, starting down the hill toward where the high chainlink fence around the road-track arena thing was broken up by a set of glass doors on a small building wrapped in hot pink and lime green neon. “But this, vode, was worth inconveniencing some Wookies, trust me.”

Cody sighed like he was questioning every decision he’d ever made but cracked a smile when Rex took his elbow to drag him after Ponds. Wolffe stepped over and grabbed the hand Bly was waving aimlessly in the air and yanked his brother to his feet.

“Has he ever _met_ a Wookie?” Bly groused, leaning heavily against Wolffe, who took his weight easily and without complaint. The answer was obvious so Wolffe didn’t say anything.

Anyway, if he ever did Ponds would undoubtedly find a way to talk them out of tearing off his arms and then convince them to join him for a game of Murderball before the day was through.

Rex definitely got his chaotic nature from Ponds.

“They’re speeders.”

“They’re…just not.”

“I know they’re small-”

“Tiny.”

“-but they’re still speeders.”

“Ponds we can’t drive these.”

“They look like they’re for younglings.”

“I agree with Rex. We’ll never fit.”

Ponds scoffed at his brothers who had so little faith in his ability to put together a successful outing. He knew for a fact Cody had spent the entirety of this Fleet Week, the third to be held and the only one on Courascant, in Fox’s office. He'd been doing damage control when vode got too rowdy as well as some confidential planning with a rotating door of Commanders (none had been allowed to stay for more than a few hours before being sent away with strict orders to go find out what they’re men were doing and join them) that had something to do with…Ponds didn’t even dare think about it in too much detail in his own mind, but his stomach fluttered in anticipation.

He bounced on his toes.

“It'll be fun, I promise. You’ve seen pod racing, haven’t you?”

“This isn’t-”

“I know it’s not.” Ponds held up his hands, and then gestured toward the tiny speeders lined up under the small overhang built over this section of the track. Each one had enormous heavy duty bumpers, a few even had roll cages, and they were small, just big enough to fit a youngling comfortably or one full grown vod if he kept his knees bent up almost to his ears.

This was gonna be _great_.

“But it _is_ a race.” Ponds grinned, looking at each of his brothers in turn. Bly had perked up and was looking vaguely conscious, Rex and Wolffe were both trying not to look as interested as Ponds could tell they were and Cody was still clinging to his irritation at Ponds’ misuse of the Emergency Alert.

“So?”

Wolffe raised an eyebrow. “So what?”

“Sooo,” Ponds said slowly, producing five plastoid keys. “Who’s ready to win second place?”

Rex broke first, snatching up one of the keys with barely a second's hesitation. “We’ll see about that.” He turned and jogged over to the tiny speeders, mulling over his choices. Bly was next, followed by Wolffe, who was still bumping his hung over brother with his shoulder occasionally to keep him upright.

“Bly is gonna wish he was dead.” Ponds shook his head and sighed wistfully. He’d been by earlier when the track was occupied by a gaggle of squawking Gungans celebrating someone’s life day. The innocent looking little speeders were _loud_.

Cody cleared his throat and Ponds turned. His brother reached out and took one of the keys but didn’t move away, instead fiddling with the little foam ‘SS’ fob that had been attached to each one.

“Ponds…”

“Cody.” Ponds put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You spent this entire week being Vod’alor so your brothers, _all_ your brothers, could have a few days to be men instead of soldiers. Someday _soon_ , you’re going to give them all a place to call their own. Today, right now…just be our brother. Just be Kote.”

Cody took a long deep breath and then nodded.

“Thanks for this Pon’ika.”

Ponds grinned pulling Cody's shoulder and thumping their heads together just slightly harder than necessary.

“No thanks needed. Now lets go kick our little brother’s shebse.”

Cody smiled and the two fell into step as they approached where the other three were on their hands and knees, carefully inspecting the power couplings and arguing about improvements that could be made to the steering linkages for the tiny vehicles.

“We’re not here for maintenance duty, boys.” Ponds hopped over Wolffe’s back to jump into the nearest speeder, causing it to bounce slightly as he settled in. Oh and Rex?” Ponds looked up from strapping on his restraining belt. “Your key only unlocks speeders with roll cages. Stay safe vod’ika.” Ponds reached up to pat the side of Rex’s cheek, snatching his hand back and slamming his foot onto the accelerator before Rex could retaliate.

Ponds couldn’t hear over the sound of his engine just what exactly it was Rex shouted after him, but he was sure it wasn’t nice.

“ _Language_ Rex’ika!”

**Author's Note:**

> I now headcanon that Hardcase builds Wolffe a go kart speeder track on his land on CD. 
> 
> I also will never not stop finding Ponds yelling about people swearing around Rex absolutely hilarious.
> 
> If you haven't read the [Soft Wars](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683775) yet I must assume today is you first day looking for TCW fan fiction. And if that's the case, go check out Soft Wars and the [Open Source Soft Wars Collection](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SoftWars), which is all set in Projie's Soft Wars AU so you can be healed from all the Sad that is Star Wars TCW and ROTS. 
> 
> Happy reading!!


End file.
